A senior staff of the Christian Council of Ghana in Tamale, James Nahyi, popularly known as “Odenden”, has discarded the teachings in the holy Bible and forcibly slept with an unsuspecting married woman (name withheld), who happens to be his former school mate.
The alleged rapist, who was pronounced guilty of the crime by the Paramount Chief of Tamale, Naa Dakpema Alhassan Dawuni, and his elders on January 30th 2015, now has another hurdle to clear, as the angry husband of the victim is now seeking his immediate removal from the Christian Council of Ghana.
James Nahyi was sentenced by the Dakpema for not only flouting the traditional laws of Dagbon, but for causing emotional trauma and distress, as well as defiling the matrimonial oath of the couple, and disrespecting the dignity of the woman. He was then asked to provide two fowls, a goat, and two bottles of schnapps among others for rituals to appease the land and the gods of Dagbon.
The husband of the victim, (name withheld), a businessman in Kumasi, told The Chronicle that he wanted nothing but stiffer punishment and public exposure to deter the “unremorseful James” from visiting other unsuspecting or innocent married women with his “uncontrolled sexual desire.”
According to him, although he was happy with the way the Chief of Tamale handled the issue, and how he was able to cause James Nahyi to admit his guilt, he and the victim were still not satisfied with the final judgement or the fine slapped on the accused, which, he said, was not deterrent enough.
The Chronicle gathered that there was no compensation whatsoever given to the victim or any formal apology to her or the husband, and because of that the alleged rapist still does not show any regret for his action.
The husband told the paper that after judgement was passed by the Dakpema, the accused person had consistently been sending some insulting and provoking text messages to him, some of which read: “I pity you”. “I believe when you see your wife or hear my name your heartbeat goes up”, and “Forgive yourself for allowing your wife into my hands” among others.
He said that the frequent text messages, and the refusal of James to even show a little remorse, had always put his wife in a very traumatic mood and making her cry incessantly.
He asserted that the “bizarre circumstance” under which his beloved and trusted wife was raped by James Nahyi had caused her (the victim) to suddenly become a high blood pressure patient de to the traumatic moments she went through. According to him, the behaviour of James Nahyi did not only portray him as a “mad dog”, but also as a “monumental disgrace to the Christian Council of Ghana, society, humanity, and the Christian fraternity.”
The hubby, who has also sent a copy of his petition to the office of the Minister of Women, Children and Social Protection and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is, therefore, demanding that the Christian Council of Ghana sack the alleged rapist with immediate effect, in order to protect the image of the council, and also bring justice to the victim.
“People like James Nahyi ought to be exposed to prevent other unsuspecting women from crossing his way.”
According to the husband, the woman, who is a mother of two, was still battling hard to overcome the trauma and shame James had put her into. Meanwhile, The Chronicle gathered that the rape incident happened somewhere in 2012, when the victim, who is based in Kumasi, visited her twin sister in Tamale with her two children.
During her stay in Tamale, the husband said, the victim and the children used to spend the day in her twin sister’s house and then go to sleep at a different location. Eventually, the victim, in the company of her twin sister, met James Nahyi, who they knew during their school days and also lives in the same neighbourhood.
He (James Nahyi) was always ready to drive the victim and her children to their sleeping place every night.
On the day of the alleged rape incident, the victim, according to the victim’s husband, after reaching their destination (sleeping place), she remembered that she had forgotten the children’s breakfast for the next morning. “At that time the children were already sleeping, so James Nahyi offered to send my wife back to her sister’s place to pick up the food.
“My wife said that after picking the items at the sister’s place, James said that he had to pick some documents from his house along the way for some work to be done in the office, since he will be travelling early the next morning.
“Upon reaching his house, he asked my wife to make herself comfortable in a chair whilst he looks for the said document. “My wife, sensing no danger, said immediately she sat on the chair the James pounced on her to forcibly have sexual intercourse with her. All attempts and struggles to stop him could not work, as James overpowered her, muzzled her, almost suffocated, and raped her.
“She felt seriously traumatised, but was very ashamed to tell anybody, including me. However, a high blood pressure she developed as a result of that encounter kept on worsening her health condition whenever she remembered it. She, therefore, gathered the courage and informed me.”
The husband told the paper that he could not doubt his wife or take any action against her, “simply because I trust my wife very much as a virtuous and God fearing woman.” When contacted by The Chronicle, James Nahyi refused to speak about the matter. After several attempts by the paper, he still would not give any account, but could only deny sleeping with the victim, or being summoned before the Chief of Tamale.
An officer at the Tamale Metropolitan office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Corporal Imoro Yussif, confirmed his outfit could not readily handle the case because the victim failed to report on time, and could not also present any impeccable evidence.
“The incident happened in 2012, but they came to report it after two or three years, so we advised them to allow sleeping dogs to lie, but we later heard they had sent it to the Dakpema, so that is all we know about the case.” In an interview with The Chronicle via telephone, the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong, confirmed receiving a copy of the petition from the husband of the rape victim.
He said that rape case was a criminal issue, and that the Council would not connive with that, but appealed to the victim and the husband to give him a little more time to investigate the matter. The Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana told the paper that he was already arranging a meeting between the victim, the husband, and the accused in Accra, before any other actions could be taken.
He, however, expressed worry as to why the matter should come to the media before the end of their investigations. The Paramount Chief of Tamale, Naa Dakpema Alhassan Dawuni, also confirmed to The Chronicle that he and his elders sat on the rape case involving James Nahyi and the married woman three times before the final judgement was pronounced.
He was, therefore, very angry about why James should blatantly deny ever coming before his court, concerning the rape case. The Chief said that he could not take it kindly with James, because he did not want to tolerate such immorality in his kingdom, and warned other young men who go after married women to desist.
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